Forbidden Love

Chapter 3: The Professor

Pov y/n

My breath feels stuck in my throat and I blink multiple times before my brain finally catches on.

Only a few feet away from me sits the woman I tried to forget for the past five years. I should have been over it after a year or two after the breakup but I wasn't and I never fully got over it.
My stomach twists but I can't decipher with which emotion.

"Natasha, meet your new T.A. Y/n Brown." Rosie introduces us.

I am still staring at Natasha, not able to move and not at all sure what to feel. The last time I saw her, I was bawling my eyes out as she hugged me and then drove away. That was five years ago!

We haven't seen each other ever since. The texting got less throughout the first three months of her living in a completely different state. It caused more harm than good, so we decided not to text anymore.
Seeing her in front of me again feels unreal, to be honest. She occupied my thoughts, sometimes my dreams but that was it. I never thought I'd see her again but there she is. And what might be even worse, she is the professor I'm going to work with.

"Y/n, this is Natasha Romanoff, the best professor for foreign literature we have." Rosie says, smiling proudly.

Natasha looks stunned too but wipes it off her face quickly to smile back at Rosie. I bite my tongue to keep from commenting I know she is the best.
Or I don't, I'm not quite sure I am able to get anything out right now.

But I know I have to and I also have to move. I can't stay in the same spot as if I got glued to it. The chaos in my head makes it hard to do anything, but I force myself to approach Natasha.

She gets up from her chair and my eyes fall to her outfit. She wears dress-pants with high heels that I know make her look freaking attractive.
Above that she wears a cream white blouse with short sleeves and a cleavage that is deep but not deep enough to be inappropriate.

Seeing her in real life is a completely different thing than seeing her in my imagination. She looks even better. Her firey red hear is shorter, only about chin length and falls in soft waves around her face. There are a few wrinkles but they are soft, only a hint really. She looks as stunning as the day she left and a part of me hates it.

"Hello Miss Romanoff. Or is it Mrs.?" I ask, hating how high pitched my voice sounds.

The question popped out before I could control myself. A lot can happen in five years, including finding a new partner and getting married. I don't mean to sound pathetic or jealous or anything but I also couldn't stop the question.

"It's Miss Romanoff. Nice to meet you, Miss Brown." She replies, her voice as smooth as always, the rasp still there, instantly sending a shiver of goosebumps across my body.

Pretending not to know each other is weird but explaining how we know each other would be even weirder.

Her eyes study me carefully but curiously as she extends her hand. When I don't correct her either, it looks like something lights up in her eyes but I could be imagining it.
Internally, I hesitate to take her hand, my mind racing with thoughts and my heart beating faster than it should. But it's the polite thing to do, so I take her hand and shake it.

Her hand is warm and smooth and the contact instantly makes my skin tingle, almost as if no time has passed since I last held her hand in mine.
I pull my hand away as soon as I can without it looking like I burned my hand at the touch. The touch isn't helping with my running mind and my heart that cracks open a tiny bit, the old feelings I once had for Natasha daring to peak out. But I quickly push them back in, not able to handle that on top of everything else.